Report details Navy officers' drunkenness

Vandegrift officers from S.D. disregarded advice on vodka

When the U.S. Navy frigate Vandegrift sailed into the Russian city of Vladivostok in September, the ship’s leadership made a beeline for the bars — including a strip joint called Club XXX.

Before the end of the three-day visit, top officers wearing dress-blue uniforms were pulled from the nightclub and restricted to ship. And, the Russian Navy had to ask the San Diego-based frigate to turn down the music playing at an onboard party.

Details of the boozy port call — which led to the removal of the commanding officer, executive officer and two others — comes from an investigator’s report released by the Navy to U-T San Diego.

The report said the officers’ behavior “placed the reputation of USS Vandegrift and our Navy at risk due to the prevalence of unbecoming conduct.”

Cmdr. Joseph F. Darlak, the Vandegrift’s skipper, was relieved of his command on Nov. 2 while the ship was still deployed — a drastic step for the Navy and usually a career-ender. The ship’s executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Ivan A. Jimenez, the chief engineer and the operations officer were removed from the ship for alcohol-related misbehavior.

Darlak and Jimenez each received punitive letters of reprimand, said Lt. Rick Chernitzer, a spokesman for Naval Surface Forces in San Diego. The other two faced administrative disciplinary hearings and their punishment, if any, isn’t public. All remain in the Navy.

Darlak was one of 23 Navy commanding officers relieved of duty in 2012, according to Navy figures. The highest year on recent record for C.O. firings was 2003, when 26 were removed.

In the past few years, the Navy has openly aired the firing of its commanding officers, and the numbers have ticked up from what used to be a typical rate of 12 to 14 annually.

Following the public spectacle surrounding the recent firing of CIA director and retired Army Gen. David Petraeus, the behavior of top military leaders has been thrown into the spotlight. Analysis shows that most are being brought down by personal behavior, such as affairs, instead of professional missteps.

The misadventures of the Vandegrift leadership began on Sept. 20, after the ship docked in Russia for the crew’s first significant time off since Darlak took command in late July. Vladivostok, a port city on the Sea of Japan, is home to roughly 500,000 people.

The day started with a luncheon aboard the Russian warship Variag, where it was customary for U.S. officers to drink vodka shots during toasts.

The Vandegrift crew ignored explicit warnings from Navy authorities that they shouldn’t go drink-for-drink with the Russians, according to a statement from two U.S. assistant naval attaches from Moscow assigned to the ship for the visit. This Sept. 25 statement from the attaches, both Navy officers, prompted the investigation into the frigate crew’s conduct.

“They somewhat proudly disregard the advice and drink a substantial amount,” according to their account, which is included in the final report to the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet in Japan.

The rest of the night, detailed in the report, proceeded like a buddy movie gone wrong.

The skipper, executive officer, command master chief and operations officer hit the town together in their dress blues with the intention of finding alcohol.

They finished off a half-liter of vodka and some beers in one watering hole, then a second bottle of vodka in another before ending the evening at Club XXX, a bar that becomes a strip club at night. The attaches accompanied them.

Darlak returned to the ship before the floorshow began, but several of his fellow officers stayed out. The skipper loaned his No. 2 officer money to return to the strip club.

Vandegrift officers drank there until one of them blacked out and the ship’s executive officer and chief engineer had to be helped from the bar by the attaches and Navy shore patrol.

The party didn’t stop there. The next day, the ship hosted Russian Navy officers at a reception where the Vandegrift skipper, executive officer and other leaders knocked back more drinks.

As the evening wore on, the Russians left and the reception turned into a dance party with loud pop music. Sailors were allowed to polish off the last of the alcohol.

At 10 p.m., a Russian officer called to ask the Vandegrift to turn down the music because of the racket.

The investigation found that Darlak didn’t take enough steps to stop the excess.

The investigator concluded that the Vladivostok incidents probably were the result of three factors: the skipper’s newness to the ship, his executive officer’s recent return from an absence, and the two months since the crew had enjoyed free time.

“More intrusive leadership was needed when it was clear that his leadership team was part of the problem and not the solution,” the Navy’s investigator concluded, adding that Darlak deserved a non-punitive letter of caution in his file.

But the admiral in charge of Carrier Strike Group 5, with authority over the frigate, increased the punishment by removing Darlak from command.

The Vandegrift returned to San Diego in late November after a seven-month deployment.

None of the four officers removed from their positions chose to comment for this article.

In his statement, included in the report, Darlak said that he expected that his top officers were “adult enough to know their limitations. I thought they wouldn’t do anything foolish.”

A frigate, one of the Navy’s smallest warships, carries a crew of 17 officers and 198 enlisted sailors.

One additional man drank enough in Vladivostok to harm his career. The ship’s navigator returned to the Vandegrift on Sept. 21 after drinking and continued to indulge at the shipboard party. In his statement, he estimated he had 10 drinks that day.

The next morning, he had to be woken up for the day’s navigation briefing and arrived hung over. Darlak and his executive officer decided to remove him from the bridge because of his condition.

The navigator, a lieutenant whose name was removed from the report by the Navy, received a non-punitive letter of caution and was ordered to attend alcohol counseling as a result of the investigation.

In the end, the Navy attaches from Moscow may have earned a reprimand as a result of the September port visit.

They directed the Vandegrift officers to Club XXX — something that is frowned upon in the letters that accompany the investigator’s report. The commander of Destroyer Squadron 15 recommended that the attaches receive “verbal counsel” for using poor judgment.

“The appearance of senior Naval Officers including the Naval Attaches in dress uniform at a strip club is not the image/message we desire,” the letter said.